Show ContentsHalloway History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Anglo-Saxon name Halloway comes from the family having resided as inhabitants at the hollow-way or holy way. 1

Halloway is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names.

John Halifax or Holywood (Latin: Johannes de Sacro Bosco) (fl. 1230), was an early English mathematician, probably born at Halifax in Yorkshire. "Holywood is said to have studied at Oxford, and to have afterwards settled at Paris about 1230. The remainder of his life was spent in Paris, where he died, either in 1244 or 1256." 2

Early Origins of the Halloway family

The surname Halloway was first found in Middlesex at Holloway, a district in the parish of Islington, Finsbury division of the hundred of Ossulstone. 3

Today, it is part of Greater London. There are a few different possible origins of the place name but the generally accepted origin is from the Old English words "hol" + "weg" which evolved to mean "the road with a hollow." 4 One of the first listings of the district was in 1307, when it was listed as Le Holeweye.

Richard de Holeweia was found in the Pipe Rolls for Devon in 1130 and later Hohn de la Holewete was found in the Assize Rolls for Somerset in 1275. John Holewey was in the Hundredorum Rolls for Oxford in 1279 and John del Hollewaye was in Yorkshire in 1308. A few years later, Hugh atte Holewey was listed in Devon in 1310. 5

There were two listings for the family in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273: Johannes de Holeweye, Wiltshire; and William de Holeweye, Warwickshire. 6

In Somerset, William Holeweye was there 1 Edward III (during the first year of King Edward III's reign). 7

Early History of the Halloway family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Halloway research. Another 60 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1562, 1581, 1582, 1599, 1604, 1616, 1666, 1684, 1691, 1695, 1720, 1722, 1723, 1734, 1759 and 1890 are included under the topic Early Halloway History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Halloway Spelling Variations

Halloway has been spelled many different ways. Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Spelling variants included: Holloway, Hollway, Holoway, Hollaway, Hollywood and others.

Early Notables of the Halloway family

Notables of this surname at this time include: James Holloway (died 1684), an English merchant from Bristol, and conspirator of the Rye House Plot.John Holloway (c. 1666-1734), was a politician and lawyer in the British colony of Virginia, Speaker of the House of Burgesses (1720-1734) and first Mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia (1722-1723.)Benjamin Holloway (1691?-1759), was an English divine, born at Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, about 1691, was the son of Joseph Holloway, 'brasiator' (maltster), of that town. 2James Holloway (d. 1684), was an English "conspirator, a citizen of Bristol, probably imbibed strong protestant opinions from the master to whom he was apprenticed...
Another 152 words (11 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Halloway Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Halloway Ranking

In the United States, the name Halloway is the 11,064th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 8

Migration of the Halloway family to Ireland

Some of the Halloway family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 193 words (14 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Halloway migration to the United States +

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Halloways to arrive on North American shores:

Halloway Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Moses Halloway, aged 27, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1834 aboard the ship "President" 9
  • Anna M. Halloway, aged 25, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1834 aboard the ship "President" 9
  • Isaac Halloway, aged 30, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1834 aboard the ship "President" 9
  • Edward Halloway, aged 20, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1835 aboard the ship "Neptune" 9
  • William Halloway, aged 22, who arrived at Ellis Island, New York in 1838 aboard the ship "Sarah & Amelia" 9
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Halloway migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Halloway Settlers in Australia in the 20th Century
  • Mr. J. W. Halloway, who arrived in Fremantle, Australia aboard the ship "Orient" in 1906 10
  • Mrs. Halloway, who arrived in Fremantle, Australia aboard the ship "Malwa" in 1910 10
  • Mr. H. A. D. Halloway, who arrived in Fremantle, Australia aboard the ship "Malwa" in 1910 10
  • Mr. F. Halloway, who arrived in Sydney, Australia aboard the ship "Ormonde" in 1921 10

Halloway migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 11
Halloway Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Abraham Halloway, aged 20, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 aboard the ship "Falcon" 12
  • Peter Halloway, who landed in Barbados in 1635 12

SS Newfoundland
  • Mr. Josua Halloway (b. 1884), Newfoundlander from Greenspond, who on the 30th March 1914 he was part of the Seal Crew of the "SS Newfoundland" leaving the ship to intercept the Stephano which took him to the hunting grounds, he disembarked to begin sealing, but was caught in a thickening storm, attempting to return to the Newfoundland he and the 132 crew made camp for two days the sealers were stranded on the ice in a blizzard attempting to return to the ship, he survived


  1. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
  2. Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
  3. Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
  4. Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
  5. Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
  6. Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
  7. Dickinson, F.H., Kirby's Quest for Somerset of 16th of Edward the 3rd London: Harrison and Sons, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty, St, Martin's Lane, 1889. Print.
  8. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  9. Ellis Island Search retrieved 9th February 2023. Retrieved from https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/passenger-result
  10. National Archives of Australia Retrieved 9th February 2023. Retrieved from https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ListingReports/PassengerListing.aspx
  11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  12. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)


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